1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to fishing rods and, more particularly, to a butt grip for such fishing rods, which allows a fishing rod to feel light, soft and comfortable when it is grasped by a user while fishing, and directly transmits vital vibrations of a fish taking a bait or caught by the hook to the hand of a user holding it, thus allowing the user to have a thrilling and agreeable feeling while fishing, and doubling a user's interest in fishing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, fishing rods have been classified into three types: general rods without having any reels, fly rods with fly reels, and spinning rods with spinning reels. The size of fishing rods has been typically expressed by the number of joints of the rods. FIG. 1 shows the structure of a conventional general rod. As shown in the drawing, the conventional general rod comprises a butt pipe 100, the length and inner diameter of which are determined by the number of joints, and a plurality of sections 110, the number of which is determined in accordance with the number of joints. The sections 110 are gradually reduced in their inner diameters such that the innermost section near the butt pipe 100 has the largest diameter and the outermost section remote from the pipe 100 has the smallest diameter. All the sections 110 are sequentially jointed together to form a telescopically retractable structure, which is jointed to the butt pipe 100. When the fishing rod is out of use, the telescopically jointed sections 110 are fully retracted into the butt pipe 100, thus accomplishing compactness allowing a user to easily and conveniently carry or store the fishing rod. A tip rod 120 is mounted to the end of the outermost section 110, while a butt grip 130 covers the rear portion of the butt pipe 100. The end of the butt grip 130 is closed by a butt cap 140. The butt pipe 100 and the telescopically jointed sections 110 have been made of carbon, boron, or a mixture thereof.
A conventional spinning rod is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in the drawing, the conventional spinning rod has a butt pipe 100, a plurality of sections 110, a tip rod 120, and a butt grip 130. A reel seat assembly 200 is provided at a predetermined portion of the butt pipe 100, while a spinning reel 210 is removably attached to the reel seat assembly 200. A guide 220 is attached to each of the sections 110, and guides a fishline when the fishline is released from or wound on the spool of the spinning reel 210.
While fishing using such a conventional fishing rod, a user extends the telescopically jointed sections 110, and directs the extended rod to a desired position above the water's surface while holding the butt grip 130 with his hand, thus allowing the end of the tip rod 120 to be positioned above a desired fishing point. When a fish is caught by the fishhook of a general fishing rod without having any reel, a user jerks his fishing rod while holding the butt grip 130 with his hand(s), and slowly pulls the fish by raising the fishing rod to take the fish. When a fish is caught by the fishhook of a spinning rod, a user jerks his fishing rod while holding the butt grip 130 with his one hand, and slowly winds the fishline on the spool of the spinning reel 210 by rotating the handle of the reel 210 with the other hand to take the fish.
The conventional butt grip 130 of a fishing rod comprises an internal sheet 131 covering the rear portion of the butt pipe 100, and an external sheet 132 covering the internal sheet 131, regardless of the types of the rods. The internal sheet 131 is made of a cushiony sheet material, such as sponge, pulp, or cork, while the external sheet 132 is made of a light and elastic sheet material, such as a cork sheet or a grained timber sheet. The butt grip 130 is thus light in its weight, and allows the fishing rod to feel soft and comfortable when a user holds the grip 130.
The fishing rod having such a conventional butt grip 130 is advantageous in that the grip 130 allows a user while fishing to feel comfortable and convenient due to its soft, light and elastic materials. However, since the materials of the butt grip 130 are different from that of the butt pipe 100, there is a difference in the physical properties between the butt pipe 100 and the butt grip 130. Due to such a difference in the physical properties between the butt pipe 100 and the butt grip 130, vital vibration of a fish taking a bait or caught by the hook is intercepted or absorbed by the grip 130, and so the fishing rod having such a butt grip 130 does not allow the user to have a thrilling or agreeable feeling while fishing. In addition, since the internal and external sheets 131 and 132 of the butt grip 130 are directly and closely attached to each other using a bonding agent, the vital vibration of a fish taking a bait or caught by the hook is not directly transmitted to the hand of a user holding the grip 130, but is considerably absorbed by the grip 130. This reduces a user's interest in fishing.
The internal and external sheets 131 and 132 of the conventional butt grip 130 are made of materials having high shock absorption power as described above, and so the grip 130 absorbs the vital vibration of a fish twice at the two sheets 131 and 132. This reduces sensitivity of a user responding to the vital vibration of a fish while fishing.
Furthermore, the conventional butt grip 130 of a fishing rod is made of expensive materials, such as sponge, cork, or pulp, thus increasing the production cost of fishing rods. This forces users of fishing rods to pay much money for purchasing the rods.